Veterans Day, Freedom to Vote, and Banana Peanut Butter Muffins

By Britny Burton [self-proclaimed craft freak]

This year is a big election year as Americans are faced with not only voting for state representatives, but also for the president. It wasn't until 1840 that each state voted on the same day. Every election year the date for voting is the same: the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. For example, if the month of November started on a Tuesday, voting would be the next Tuesday because there hadn't been a Monday in November yet. In today's society this odd rule may not make much sense, but back in the 1800s it seemed fairly logical.
Just to break it down, here's a few reasons why elections are held when they are::

• The electoral college would meet the first Wednesday in December so elections had to be held the month prior.
• Harvesting would have ended by this time.
• It wasn't too cold yet in most places so for families who had to travel to vote they could do so more easily. Also, Sunday was considered still a day of rest for most people, so if needed, travelling would be done on Monday to get to voting on Tuesday.
• November 1st is All Saints Day in the catholic religion, hence the rule for elections to never be on the first day in November.

If I may add onto that, I think the beginning of November is the perfect time to vote because of Veterans Day. Soldiers, past, present and future are the ones who have fought and continue to fight for the United States to be free and for its people to be able to vote.
Unlike the election day, Veterans Day is always on November 11th. It was originally called Armistice Day and was formed in 1919 to celebrate one year since World War I had ended. It was on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 that the war officially ended. It wasn't until 1938 that it was considered a national holiday and in 1954 the day was changed to honor all veterans.

I encourage everyone to exercise their right to vote and get out on election day. If you are still unsure of who to vote for, go to www.isidewith.com and take the quiz. If you are unsure of whether you are registered or if you just don't know where you can go to vote on November 6th, go to www.canivote.org to find out.

Since you may be going out to vote early in the morning, you're not going to be in the mood to cook and fast food is not that good for you. Here's an awesome banana peanut butter muffin recipe you can whip up the night before.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 3-4 bananas
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1 cup peanut butter chip
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1-2 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 350*.
2. Smash up the bananas in a large bowl. Try to get them as smooth as possible.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl.

4. Spray a muffin pan and fill the cups up a little over half way.
5. Cook at 350* for 18-20 minutes.
6. Once they are done in the oven immediately set them on a cooling rack so they are still soft and don't continue to cook in the tray.

7. Enjoy!

I would like to note that I am a member of the Indiana National Guard. I tried to keep my information about Veterans Day as unbias as possible. Thank you to all of you who serve or have served.